Girlfriend arrested after man dies in shooting

TOBYHANNA, MONROE COUNTY (WOLF) -- Police say a woman shot and killed her boyfriend in Tobyhanna overnight, and then called 9-1-1.

Now, she's under arrest. We also have more on an unusual turn in the investigation.

Police say they are now looking into claims that the boyfriend was deathly afraid of some people online, so scared that he wanted to die.

Investigators also say alcohol was involved, but they're not sure whether that was a key reason for the shooting inside the apartment.

Police say the alarming 9-1-1 call came in around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday from the apartment on the back side of this home in the 600 block of Laurel Drive.

"The caller related that she just shot her boyfriend in the head and was requesting police," says Pocono Mountain Regional Police Dept. Lt. Steven Williams.

When they arrived, police say they found Barbara Rogers, 42, and her dead boyfriend Stephen Mineo, 32, who had been shot at close range in the middle of his forehead.

Then, things got even stranger.

"She identified that the deceased was having online issues with a cult, and he wanted to be killed, and requested that she do it," says Williams.

Police say they found two handguns, a long gun,and ammunition inside the house, including the gun they say Rogers shot Mineo with.

Investigators say the couple were survivalists.

"They were in fear that the world may come to an end sometime and they wanted to survive," says Williams.

"I got woken up at 2:30 this morning by what sounded like gunshots, but I just shrugged it off as fireworks because normally on an early morning, he would set fireworks off," says neighbor Helen Becker. "I didn't think nothing of it, just laid back down and the next thing, I saw lights."

Police say they did find some information online that there may, in fact, be an online cult involving the woman that Rogers described.

"The information was provided by the defendant at this point, and we will be looking into whether her allegations and problems that he was having with the cult are in fact true or not," says Williams.

"The firearm was discharged, we are aware, prior to the incident occurring last night several times outside, where we did discover some spent cartridges," says Williams.

"When the customers come in, they tell me it happened. I heard that but I didn't see anything," says Bela Patel, who works nearby.

A neighbor says she's seen fireworks going off at the house before.

"I even called the police the one night because it started at about 3:30 in the morning and went until 5:30," says Becker.

But, she never expected something like this.

"I just heard bop, bop, bop, bop, and that was it, so a good three or four shots," says Becker.

Neighbors say the couple moved into the rental across the street from the Coolbaugh Township firehouse less than a year ago, and they believe that Rogers was retired from the military.

The shooting victim, Mineo, apparently has a Youtube channel with some of his views that says it is "dedicated to Yahuah and Yahushah" and includes an address for his "Alternative News" Blogspot page.

One video shows a letter that he is returning to sender to a "tyranical court" in North Arlington, N.J., where his Facebook page says he is originally from.

Rogers was charged with homicide and arraigned on Saturday night. She was taken to the Monroe County Correctional Facility and has been denied bail.